Energy Infrastructure Forum 2026: Europe to invest hundreds of billions in grids

The twelfth annual Energy Infrastructure Forum, held in Copenhagen on 21–22 May, once again confirmed that Europe’s energy transition is no longer solely about generating electricity from renewable sources. The main theme of this year’s meeting was infrastructure – namely electricity grids, cross-border interconnections, hydrogen corridors and ways of financing major investments, without which Europe’s decarbonisation targets cannot be met.

The forum was traditionally organised by the European Commission together with the Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities. Representatives of European institutions, transmission system operators, energy companies, regulatory authorities, financial institutions and the non-profit sector travelled to Copenhagen. Speakers included European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen, who addressed the event.

One of the most discussed topics was the financing of European grids. According to estimates, the European Union will need to invest hundreds of billions of euros in the coming years to modernise and expand transmission infrastructure. The forum therefore highlighted the need for greater involvement of private capital and more effective cost-sharing among member states.

The forum’s conclusions stress that transmission and distribution system operators should regularly update their investment plans and clearly identify the risks of underinvestment. At the same time, regulators should monitor the opposite problem: possible overinvestment in infrastructure. The European Investment Bank (EIB) is expected to play an important role by helping reduce the cost of capital and accelerate financing for strategic projects.

Hydrogen project development is slow

A large part of the discussions also focused on hydrogen. The European Union continues to count on hydrogen infrastructure as one of the pillars of industrial and transport decarbonisation. However, representatives of ENNOH, ENTSOG, regulatory authorities and the European Commission openly acknowledged that the sector’s development has been slower than expected.

The forum therefore supported discussion of new mechanisms to reduce investment risk, including possible European guarantees for cross-border hydrogen projects. The final document also called for the creation of an implementation roadmap to help coordinate the construction of a future European hydrogen network.

Another key topic was the electrification of the European economy and problems with connecting new generation sources and industrial projects to the grid. Representatives of ACER, ENTSO-E and European distribution system operators warned that current permitting and connection processes are often too slow and complicated.

Discussions therefore covered more efficient grid planning, greater use of digitalisation, smart solutions and technologies to increase the capacity of existing infrastructure. The European Commission also presented the continuation of an initiative aimed at faster and more transparent grid connections for projects.

Public opposition and greater transparency

Public acceptance of new infrastructure was also an important item on the agenda. European countries are increasingly encountering opposition from residents to the construction of new power lines, substations and energy corridors. The forum therefore stressed the need for better public communication and greater transparency regarding the costs and benefits of individual projects.

The programme also included a signing ceremony for projects financed through the European CEF instrument. Support was awarded, for example, to cross-border smart grids  between Bulgaria and Romania, the German project for the H2 Storage Gronau-Epe hydrogen storage facility, and Spain’s AGUAYO II pumped-storage project.

Alongside the discussions themselves, the launch of the Capacitypedia platform also attracted attention. It is intended to improve the overview of available capacity in European grids and facilitate coordination among transmission system operators, distribution system operators and investors.

This year’s forum thus showed that Europe’s energy transition is entering a new phase. After years of focusing on the construction of renewable energy sources, attention is shifting to infrastructure, without which it will not be possible to manage the electrification of industry, the development of data centres, the emergence of hydrogen or growing electricity consumption. The European Union is also increasingly viewing energy grids not only as a technical issue, but as a matter of competitiveness, security and strategic autonomy.